Mexico Suspends Plan to Distribute Maps to Migrants

Mexico says it will suspend plans to distribute maps to guide migrants safely across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mexico's Human Rights Commission said Thursday it changed plans after Mexican officials expressed fear the maps would show U.S. anti-immigrant groups where migrants might gather.

The Commission denied the decision was made because of U.S. objections.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Wednesday criticized the planned map distribution, saying it would encourage more people to cross the border illegally.

Mexico said the maps were only meant to warn potential border-crossers of risks found in desert areas, where some 500 migrants died last year. Officials had planned to distribute some 70,000 maps detailing main roads and water tanks.